Hemostatic forceps



Feb. 23 1926. 1,574,362

J. F. CALLAHAN HEMOSTATIC FORCEPS Filed Sept. 28, 1922 Patented Feb 23, 1926 o M21115- is s JOHN 'F. "GALLAHKN, BRUCKE'UH,MASSACHUEZETTS, ASSEEGIiYO-B I'O FISQXfiEL CAIiIiAHA'N, "0F ,BHGCKTON, 'TtIASSALG'IIU-SETTS.

zrzearosrnrro 'TGRCEPS.

Application Ifiled: fieptemher 28,:1932. fieriali N0-591,127.

To all w ham zit m ayiconeern i Be 1 it known:that I, JOHN 2F. =.GAI-.1';AHAN, a citizen o f 'the-aUnited "Stat-es, residing at Brecht-on, F in the i county rot Plymouth :and State 1 0i 'lv i assachusetts, whit-V6 invented new and useful Improvements in l-Iaemostatic I orceps, of which the tolloWingIis-a specification.

The present invention relates atO forceps adapted to clamp atbleeding point antlto guide to the i'point'tthus clamped a threador eord which isadapte'd "to be tied-*aronnd the point. Fnnda-inentally the present invention is of the same nature as that disclosed ininy prior latent No. 15460 531, l-granted JIily S, T1923, in+that it-zrelates to an instrument combining a pair of clamping .ijaws Withholding and guiding 11583118 for :the ligature cord. "As compared With'tthe :prior invention,- myqn'esent object is to en a'bie the ligature to' be tied about the tissue: outside of the hite of the iorceps jaws; inrother words, to make possible; the lighting of a bleeding point in certain circumstances irc 'here'zitis not "possible *to talic so 1 deep i'bite of the tissue 1 by the j'awsa'sis required 5 in ithe case of my *iorinerinvention. This object. lSfi accomplished by the provision in the forceps of means 'tor "holding a loop of thread close to the gripping ends of the forceps vjaws, and in other characteristics of relzltive location 'and 'shape =0f said jaws and rot the thread holding =ineans, by which it 1is possible "to pass a knotted loop of the thread over "the ends of the jaws and to draw =it tightabout the included tissue Where it is whollyclear of the jaws.

In further explanation of the principles and characteristics of the present 1 invention, attention is directed to the"following descript-ion in detailgorthe preferred embodiment of the invention, and to the drawings referred to 1n=sa1ddescr1pt1on In the drawings "Fi nre 1 1s itflEW'lI-lllttl side View 01": a

'haeniostatio force is enibed in the invention, one or the gripping jaws-being represented" as broken aWay so "as to "show the grippingiface of'the other jaw.

Fig'ure 2 is a planriew'oi one side ofthe complete forceps. t

Figure 8 isa plan views]? the opposite side of the'fOrceps.

Tigures i and bare plan view-s showing the use and operation of the forceps for grasping aibleeding point, and the operation of ii atingethe point .sograsped.

Figures 16,, 7 and :8iare side views of'tlte forceps. sh owing the same-.use )antl operation.

Eigurefi is a ii'ragnientary vieivhotiing thecon pietediligatnre.

flhe forceps consist :or two long and springzy arms a and l I) pivoted "together at :0 and having finger loops a"! and "6. These arms are extended. beyondi'the pivot to form jaws (t .and 0 A spring clip dis mounted onon'eo'f the arms to hold the ends of a cord for "making a ligature and compile- Inental teeth .6 and i f are iformec'l ion the arms .to interlockcandhold the forceps in closed position.

Thegparts ot the forceps-thus far de SGFlbGCl GOlX1PI'iS6OnlyJIHLttQIS of common practice. The new. step in the invention concerns the formation .ot the extremities of the gripping jaws, and 'the association therewith -ol' holding i fingers for a loop v of the ligature cord. [Such f'formation tarrangenient obtain valuable new results, and ereiiinportant. Eirsttas'to the Ineans 'for holding thejloop of thecorid. "This means comprises .two fingers oriprongs g and J, of which one issforrnedon the under side otthe jaw afisndihe other on. a-icorrespondlllgdiitrtdiftilQ jawsb close toithe ends 0 f the jaws. flheinotch-or openingv-i'between the fingers i and the adjacent jaws provides "a spaoein Which the .loop or bight "at a cord [may beplaced, theiends of'the cord being;bronght-aroundithe outer. sides of the U jaws :anchearried up to an'd passed under the spring clip (Zr Asingle knot-may be fOIlIl'Qflilll the cordbefore the ends of'the latter are hrought under the clip as shown 1111iF1gi1res 2;antl 4-, but whetheror not'this ing point wand. the; cord disengaged I from the "clip.

.A feature of formation ofthejaws is that they are recessed intheirf sides neXtioone nanother as to substantially their Whole :length except for .a short and; .narroire rippin-g 1 tace J1; Tat the. extremity. Tliis,.grippi1 g .l ace :18 so vshort that its .inner termination i coinesxoutsideof the bottoinof the notch i,

or 1 least, does not extend any further; than snch bottom tronnthe,extremity of theja'w's.

lnsadditionthe outer faces a and b ofithe' jaws near their extremities are steeply inclined to one another and each of such faces is also steeply inclined to the. plane of the adjacent gripping face,- as is shown in the plan views, and the upper and under faces are inclined at a relatively large angle to one another, at the extremities, as shown in Fig. 1 with respect to the jaw 6 such faces being identified at b and 6 In particular it is to be noted that the under side I) of the jaw, which forms the upper boundary of the notch i, is inclined at a substantially large angle to the longitudinal dimension of the jaw. The steep inclination of said outer or exterior faces a b 12* and 6 begins at that part of the jaws where the fingers jo1n them; or in other words, the outer, faces of each jaw are steeply inclined convergently from the plane, transverse to the longitudinal dimension of the aw, lying about at the bottom of the notch i. The approximate location of the plane referred to is indicated by the broken line m-w of Figure 1. These characteristics of the jaws tend'to cause the loop of thread, when a knot is tied in it, as shown in Figure 2, and is drawn tight, to slip over and from the ends of the jaws without any other agency than the force apphed in drawing the knot tight.

When the foreceps are threaded, that part of the thread which passes between the holding fingers of the two jaws, although close to the gripping surfaces of the aws, cannot be caught or fouled by these surfaces where they grip the bleeding point, because this stretch of cord is simply pushed back by the tissue into the recessed open space between the jaws when the jaws are forced into the'tissue to bite the bleeding point This condition is illustrated in Figure 4, where Z represents a mass of live tissue and m the end of a severed artery which it is the surgeons purpose to ligate. It is to be assumed that the orifice of the artery is at the surface of the tissue. In order to-grip the artery and check the flow of blood, the open jaws have to be pressed into the trssue on each side of the artery, but when this 18 done the part y' of the cord which runs across from one jaw to the other is pushed back out of the way by the included tissue. Even though in being thus pushed back, and at the same time slackened with the approach of the jaws to one another, it is also brought between them, it is not gripped because the recessed formation of the aws on their inner faces, and the fact that the holding notches extend at least as far back as the terminations of the gripping faces is, and preferably beyond them, insure that the interposed cord will not be gripped and held fast. When the jaws are closed, they are held so by the teeth and f, leaving the surgeon free to use both his hands, if need be, in tying the cord.

or faces of the jaws.

The fingers g, h, terminate slightly outside of the planes of gripping faces 70, and this fact, together with the relation of the notches to the inner termination of these faces, brings the result that, when the forceps are closed,'the tissue is not gripped by the fingers, but is forced into the space between the fingers by the pressure of the gripping faces upon the excess tissue in the bite of the jaws. This tissue, being forced between the fingers andheld in front of them by the gripping faces, holds the 1igature cord in the bottoms of the notches, thus preventing the cord from slipping out of position; but when force is afterwards applied in tightening the knot the loop of the cord easily slips over and around the tissue between the fingers.

The action of pulling up on the ends of the cord to tighten the knot makes the loop progressively smaller until it is only just large enough to surround the extremities of the jaws. When it has been brought to these small dimensions the parts of the jaws which it surrounds are those parts having steeply inclined surfaces, wherefore the further continued drawing up of the knot simply crowds it ofi from the forceps and around the gripping point. Then the knotted loop is confined in a space where tightening of the knot can have no other effect than to draw the loop closely around the tissue and clear of the forceps jaws. The fact that the notch 71 extends back of or as far back as the gripping faces leaves that part of the cord which is contained in the notches free to run through them, and enables the loop to be drawn up and tied tightly around the gripped tissue. Figure 4 shows the situation when the jaws have been pressed into the tissue and just before they have been closed on the bleeding point. In Figure 6 the jaws have been closed, but the knot has not been drawn tight. 7 Figures 5 and 7 show the knot after it has slipped clear of the forceps, and Figures 8 and 9 show it after it has been drawn tight about the bleeding point.

Stating the characteristics of the jaws and cord holding prongs in a general way, it may be said that such prongs are in parallel with the gripping jaws, meaning by this expression to point to the fact that the prongs are at nearly the same distance from a plane intermediate the jaws as the inner or gripping faces of the jaws themselves. In other words, although the prongs are slightly outside of the planes of the gripping faces, as previously stated, yet they are intermediate these planes and the outer sides y The prongs lie in planes which extend longitudinally of the respective jaws and parallel to said gripping faces, which planes are also located intermediate the inner and outer sides of the jaws. This relation is the same asthat previously indicated in the statement that the prongs are on the under sides ofthe jaws, but is not subject to qualification by the position in which the forceps are held. Owing to this arrangement the cord is securely held so that it cannot accident ally slip over the ends of the jaws or back from the position where it should be, but at the same time is able to he slipped readily from the jaws when necessary.

l/Vhat I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Haemostatic forceps having jaws formed with gripping faces at their extremities only and being recessed away from one another back from said extremities, each jaw having an external thread-holding finger adjacent to its said extremity, both fin gers being at the same side of the forceps.

2. Hzcmostatic forceps having jaws formed with gripping faces at their extremities and recessed away from one another back from said extremities, said jaws both hav ing thread-holding fingers adjacent to said extremities, the outer faces of the jaws being steeply inclined convergently toward their extremities from a transverse plane at the bottom of the notches between the fingers and the jaws.

' 3. Haemostatic forceps having jaws formed with gripping faces at their extremities and recessed away from one another back from said extremities, said jaws having thread-holding fingers adjacent to said extremities, the outer faces of the jaws adjacent to their extremities being steeply in clincd convergently toward said extremities from a transverse plane located approximately at the bottoms of the after mentioned notches, there being between each jaw and its associated finger a cord-receiving notch extending inward from the jaw extremity as far as the inner limit of said gripping face.

a. Haemostatic forceps having jaws formed with gripping faces at their extremities and recessed away from one another back from but close to said extremities, said jaws having thread-holding fingers adjacent to said extremities, said fingers being arranged in planes parallel to said gripping faces and located intermediate the inner and outer sides of the jaws.

Haemostatic forceps having jaws formed with gripping faces at their extremities and recessed away from one another back from said extremities, said jaws having thread-holding fingers adjacent to said extremities, said fingers being located at the under sides of the jaws and at approxiextending back as far as the rear limit of the gripping area.

7. Haemostatic forceps having jaws constructed to grip at their extremities, but being recessed back from said extremities so as to limit the gripping area, and the jaws being formed with open notches to receive the loop of a cord, and said notches being both at one side of the gripping part and extending back as far as the rear limit of the gripping area, the surfaces of the jaws from such notch'to the jaw extremities being inclined to the longitudinal dimension of the jaws.

8. Haemostatic forceps having jaws con structed to grip at their extremities,but being recessed back from said extremities so as to limit the gripping area, and the jaws being formed with open notches to receive the loop of a cord, and said notches being both at one side of the gripping part and extending back as far as the rear limit of the gripping area, the external surfaces of the jaws from such notch to the jaw extremities being inclined to the longitudinal dimension of the jaws, the outer faces of the jaws being steeply inclined toward their gripping faces.

9. Haemostatic forceps comprising jaws and connected handle members, said jaws having gripping faces and means for holding the loop of a ligature cord in position embracing said jaws, and a cord-holding clip attached to one of said handle members.

10. Haemostatic forceps comprising gripping jaws and connected handle members. said jaws having cord-guiding fingers, and a spring clip mounted on one of said handle members and adapted to grip between itself and the adjacent handle member the ends of a cord of which a loop or bight has been engaged with said fingers.

11. Hmmostatic forceps comprising pivoted gripping jaws and connected handle members, said jaws having cord-holding fingers adjacent to their extremities, both of said fingers being at the same side of the forceps, and a cord-holding clip mounted on the side of one of said handle members.

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my signature.

JOHN F. CALLAHAN. 

